37 Posts
0
3327
Precision T1700 - tech specs on displayport ?
I have spent many hours on this problem, and hoping to get a clear answer from Rockstars here. I have a T1700 running i7-4770. This model comes with 2 displayports. I need to connect this to a cheap monitor that has ONLY 1 dual link DVI-D interface. There are no other interfaces on monitor. The native resolution of this monitor is 2560x1440. I do not wish to run this monitor at any lower resolutions. Note that this monitor is not capable of using a single-link DVI --- has been already tried and it failed.
There is only the onboard intel HD graphics on this desktop. Now, the problem here is to pass the video signal from onboard graphics to this monitor. From what i have read on the internet so far, this requires one of the following two options :
- First preferred option...If the displayport is capable of dual-link DVI conversion, then i simply buy a "passive" converter. According to the specs on the intel site the onboard graphics provides 3840x2160@60Hz. But, according to what i have read from displayport.org ONLY a "dual link Displayport" has the ability to do conversion of signal into DVI format. So, the question is ...."Is the displayport on this desktop dual-link ? In other words, can it push out the DVI-D signal to run monitor at 2560x1440. If this is possible, i can buy a "passive adapter", from amazon for about $15 and be done with this (if i can find an adapter than can run at desired resolution).
- The second option is to buy a "Active adapter" that can convert displayport to DVI signals. Since these are expensive, i do not wish to go with this option. If option #1 is not possible, then i may look into buying a cheapo graphics card on ebay that can run DVI-D at 2560x1440. Last i checked i can find a used graphics card for less than $20 on ebay. I am not a gamer, and this monitor is mainly used for web surfing and netflix.
Thanks for any clarifications.
seekingbuddha
37 Posts
1
April 10th, 2019 09:00
I wanted to answer and complete my own thread, so that it can be of use to someone in future, who is searching the internet. For the question #1, i found answer by reading the wikipedia about dual-link DVI (or DVI standard - one of these two, i just don't remember). Basically, only a Dual-link DVI is capable of higher resolution (more than 1080p) - that simply is the standards. Due to technical differences it would be very hard to find a cable that converts all of the signal of Displayport into DVI. DVI is simply too old a standard, compared to Displayport specs. There were also many reports on the internet where i saw people having difficulty running a DVI monitor using adapters (either passive or active adapter - it does not matter - eventually they stop working). So, i decided to go with my second option, of buying a cheap $10 graphics card on ebay that has dual-link DVI ability to drive my monitor. Note that if you are playing games on your computer, you need to be watchful about the WDDM standard of the graphics card that you are buying. Many older graphics cards simply can not conform to the standards that are required by modern video games. I do not play video games on PC, and hence for me the older $10 nvidia quadro was more than i needed.
This was the cheapest solution to drive my 2560 x 1440 Achiva Shimian monitor that had only DVI-D input. It turned out that the graphics card produced way better contrast and color than what my built in (newer) intel HD graphics could accomplish without the card (on a Samsung monitor of same resolution).